Four TDs going to see what it's like to live on the dole for a week.

LostBoy101 · 27-08-2014 10:41PM #1

Journal reporting this laughable piece of journalism.

WOULD YOU LIKE a TD to move into your home, experience the life you lead and essentially walk a mile in your shoes for one week?
Over the years there have been plenty of calls for politicians imposing budget cuts to live on social welfare to see how they survive.

http://www.thejournal.ie/tds-social-welfare-tv3-1640775-Aug2014/

I think a week on the dole is not going to help evaluate the full picture as they are not taking into account the ESB, Heating, Property Tax and Water Tax bills. Another PR stunt in my opinion.

Shakespeare's Sister · 27-08-2014 10:43PM

If some are anything to go by, they'll be living a charmed life, with luxuries left, right and centre.

LostBoy101 · 27-08-2014 10:45PM

Shakespeare's Sister wrote: »

If some are anything to go by, they'll be living a charmed life, with luxuries left, right and centre.

Yep it's just beans and toast for a week and anybody could do that :P

I would really like to see them do it for a half term which will never happen.

InReality · 27-08-2014 10:46PM

Its a lot better than nothing .

There was a program few years about being homeless - they got some famous people to do it for a few days. One lad fecked off to a hotel on the first night and then didn't come back on the show at all.

Last_Minute · 27-08-2014 10:47PM

It's a lot different when you know after a week you're going home to a lovely mansion in a nice part of town. The thing about the dole is that if you are long term unemployed then you have very little to look forward to.

same ol sh1te · 27-08-2014 10:50PM

More reality tv bull sh1t, well they do say politics is show business for ugly people

Autonomous · 27-08-2014 10:50PM

It should be a least a month, with these to pay....ESB, LPT, TV license, water charges, school books, car tax, a hospital visit and medication to buy too.

fryup · 27-08-2014 10:51PM

wonder which bookies will they choose

Donkey Oaty · 27-08-2014 10:51PM

Tv3 says this is a “unique social experiment”

Tv3 speak with forked tongue.

4zn76tysfajdxp · 27-08-2014 10:53PM

The premise reminds me of a wonderful piece of investigative journalism I read some years back.

Rough Sleeper · 27-08-2014 11:00PM

Ayleen Green Stirrup wrote: »

The premise reminds me of a wonderful piece of investigative journalism I read some years back.

Alison O' ****ing Riordain. Chick makes Niamh Horan look like Truman Capote.

Some of her sentences looked like they'd been put through the converter for about six different languages on Google Translate. "One homeless man in a fleece with a broken zip and a can of cider in his hand offered me a cigarette. He told me he needed to drink because of the night time as it knocked him out" was probably my favourite.

The Backwards Man · 27-08-2014 11:05PM

Should it not be

'Four families that already have enough on their plate are made to endure livng with a TD for a week.'

The Diabolical Monocle · 27-08-2014 11:29PM

This is like an Irish version of some American 90's sitcom where the rich old white guy lives for a day in the projects.

Will there be break dancing ?

TD's walking round in dayglow tshirts with boom boxes.

I pour a sip for my homey Albert Reynolds.

conorh91 · 27-08-2014 11:29PM

Rough Sleeper wrote: »

Alison O' ****ing Riordain. Chick makes Niamh Horan look like Truman Capote.

Some of her sentences looked like they'd been put through the converter for about six different languages on Google Translate. "One homeless man in a fleece with a broken zip and a can of cider in his hand offered me a cigarette. He told me he needed to drink because of the night time as it knocked him out" was probably my favourite.

Gawd I forgot who Alison O'Riordan was. I assumed she had left journalism long ago. Funny how the the top few google results for her name are people taking the piss.

http://www.broadsheet.ie/2010/11/16/now-alison-oriordan-gets-lawyered-up/

smash · 27-08-2014 11:31PM

Ming and Mick Wallace look like they've been on the Dole for years.

Jesus Wept · 27-08-2014 11:32PM

*****

RobertKK · 27-08-2014 11:33PM

It would be easier to cut their pay to dole levels (remove expenses) and save the state money and then they can see what it is like.
Keep them on it till they beg for their pay back as they need to pay the mortgage.

Buona Fortuna · 27-08-2014 11:43PM

LostBoy101 wrote: »

I think a week on the dole is not going to help evaluate the full picture as they are not taking into account the ESB, Heating, Property Tax and Water Tax bills. Another PR stunt in my opinion.

Agreed. These things are nearly always PR stunts for the reasons you state.

There was a similar type of programme on C4 (I think) a few years back. A number of actors spent a week on the dole - usual $hoite. I thought, now all the others scabbled about and got one day jobs here and there in bars and market stalls, but one of them Larry Lamb (always had him down as a bit of a cnut) didn't bother. He just concentrated on living on the dole didn't even try to look for a job. The producers and presenter pulled him aside basically saying wtf. He said - I'm 60 odd years old who's even going to give me an interview.

The honesty of it was refreshing and he came out of it less of a cnut in my eyes at least

Adamantium · 28-08-2014 12:26AM

The Diabolical Monocle wrote: »

Will there be break dancing ?

TD's walking round in dayglow tshirts with boom boxes.

With sexy results....

RobbingBandit · 28-08-2014 12:30AM

Adamantium wrote: »

With sexy results....

I'm sending you my dry cleaning bill, just threw up my dinner reading that, you sick &%$*.

Donkey Oaty · 28-08-2014 12:31AM

Tory MP Matthew Parris spent a week on the dole for a TV show in the 1980s, and while he believed it was tough, his attitude that it was right for it to be tough, otherwise people wouldn't bother to look for work.

Twenty years later, he made another programme where he went back to visit those he had met on the first occasion.

Here's the New Statesman's chilling review (not available on their website, but has been posted elsewhere.)

A couple of nights earlier, in a late-night slot, Matthew Parris, the
former Tory MP, revisited the Newcastle sink estate where 20 years ago
he had spent a week on the dole. He met a father whose four children
had featured in the film of his first visit. The father said his three
daughters had got jobs, but his son had hanged himself just after his
21st birthday. The young man had attended every government training
scheme going, but still couldn't find a job. "He never once moaned,"
his father said. "On the day he hanged himself, he shaved and had a
shower. He'd been practising pull-ups on the rafters to make his arms
strong for what he intended to do."

Parris said to camera that the visit hadn't changed his views about
the dole being kept low to make people look for work. People who
hanged themselves might come from a dysfunctional family, and it
wasn't fair to blame politicians.

As bad as the TDs will be on this show - and I expect them to be truly appalling - I doubt they'll come anywhere close to that.

The Peanut · 28-08-2014 12:34AM

Can I vote for four FG TD's to crash at Chez Dundon for a week?

Hotfail.com · 28-08-2014 12:53AM

Autonomous wrote: »

It should be a least a month, with these to pay....ESB, LPT, TV license, water charges, school books, car tax, a hospital visit and medication to buy too.

Don't forget experiencing the stigma of being long-term unemployed, and all the stress/potential mental health issues which go with it.

Dartz · 28-08-2014 01:10AM

Redonkulous publicity stunt.

Living on the Dole is more than just one week.... it's absolutely indeterminate. It's week after week after week of being made to feel utterly worthless, until ultimately you just start to believe you really are worthless and stop giving a ****.

Bafucin · 28-08-2014 01:27AM

LostBoy101 wrote: »

Journal reporting this laughable piece of journalism.

http://www.thejournal.ie/tds-social-welfare-tv3-1640775-Aug2014/

I think a week on the dole is not going to help evaluate the full picture as they are not taking into account the ESB, Heating, Property Tax and Water Tax bills. Another PR stunt in my opinion.

Would love to seem them do it for six months with a family.

Cookie_Monster · 28-08-2014 01:33AM

so are they just going to sit around for a week and live within the budget or are they supposed to be out job seeking and so forth. seems pretty pointless to me either way for such a short period.

Dowl88 · 28-08-2014 01:38AM

Will probably be down skulling pints in the pub, smoking fags, going for take aways, driving a car, buy some new clothes, go on a foreign holiday.

And if they meet up with a young wan with a child who has a house they can have free accomadation too.

Bafucin · 28-08-2014 01:41AM

A couple of nights earlier, in a late-night slot, Matthew Parris, the
former Tory MP, revisited the Newcastle sink estate where 20 years ago
he had spent a week on the dole. He met a father whose four children
had featured in the film of his first visit. The father said his three
daughters had got jobs, but his son had hanged himself just after his
21st birthday. The young man had attended every government training
scheme going, but still couldn't find a job. "He never once moaned,"
his father said. "On the day he hanged himself, he shaved and had a
shower. He'd been practising pull-ups on the rafters to make his arms
strong for what he intended to do."

Parris said to camera that the visit hadn't changed his views about
the dole being kept low to make people look for work. People who
hanged themselves might come from a dysfunctional family, and it
wasn't fair to blame politicians.

This sadly is very relevant to certain parts of Dublin and I am sure elsewhere in the country.

Idbatterim · 28-08-2014 01:47AM

What bull****! I expect to hear how hard it is yada yada yada. Well your getting money for nothing and god knows what other perks... Here's a sob story, go out and work and you get to pay for everything and everybody else.
What are they going to investigate? Europes most generous and lenient welfare state? One which was massively protected during the downturn at the expense of everyone else? Spare me.

Obviously this isn't aimed at the recently graduated or unemployed! It's aimed at the minimum 100,000 wasters here who play the system and tax payers for fools and have done so for years with government support!

MadsL · 28-08-2014 01:51AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuTMWgOduFM

ardle1 · 28-08-2014 01:56AM

Oh that's great....
And will they be injected with the depressive feelings of 'worthless-ness', ever declining confidence etc etc..:rolleyes:

Four TDs going to see what it's like to live on the dole for a week.

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